500 Francs

The BCEAO came into existence in 1959 as the monetary authority for the newly independent francophone West African states, replacing the earlier Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française et du Togo. This note belongs to that transitional series — technically a new institution, but still printed in Paris by the Banque de France's own press, still denominated in CFA francs tied to the French treasury, and still signed in part by French officials during its earliest issues.

The sheer number of signature combinations — thirteen across six years — reflects the speed of political turnover as member states settled into post-independence governance structures. Robert Julienne's name persists through nearly the entire run as the BCEAO's French-appointed administrator, finally displaced in the 1965 issues by Abdoulaye Fadiga, the institution's first African director. Henri Konan Bédié, who signed in that final year, later served as President of Côte d'Ivoire from 1993 to 1999.